Healthy Tasty Eats Part 2: SaladStop!

Many Singaporeans are familiar with eating out; after all, we’re one of the finest food cities in the world. You may also be aware of the issues of overindulging in all that delicious food, especially our popular hawker fare.

Too much sodium, too much unhealthy oil, too much sugar, not enough vegetables… solely surviving on food from restaurants and eateries can make one’s diet imbalanced and harmful to health.

Oh, and not to mention, it causes you to get flabby and pudgy.

Thankfully, healthy restaurants and eateries are popping up left and right in an already vibrant food scene. In between meals at the hawker centre and a family Chinese restaurant, one can easily enjoy a hearty and healthy meal at one of these healthy food establishments.

In this series, we look at some of the players in the healthy food game, and discuss what exactly makes their food healthy.

8 years ago, it would have been difficult to find a healthy food spot to have a meal. If you tried, you would have probably come across SaladStop! — one of, if not THE first salad bar in Singapore. Fast forward to today, SaladStop! now has multiple outlets across the country, primarily in the central area.

If you thought salads were boring and bland, then SaladStop! will change your mind.

After feasting our eyes on the colorful array of almost 70 fresh toppings, we made our minds and ordered a Chihuahua (*gasps) quinoa bowl, and a Tuna San with spinach wrap. Ms Katherine Desbaillets, one of the owner of the family-owned business, was quick to explain to us that Chihuahua was named after the state in Mexico and not the breed of dog. (Nothing to see here, PETA.)

Chihuahua Warm Grain Bowl $12.20Tuna-san with Spinach Wrap $12.80

Salad… is it tasty?!

If you’re like me, then you would be quick to say no when offered a salad. A salad is something that I would only eat because it was included as a side dish, or if that’s the only source of vegetables at a buffet. So you could imagine I wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about this segment of Healthy Tasty Eats.

But boy, was I mistaken!

We had no trouble finishing the two pretty substantial servings of salad. The Chihuahua was flavorful, and had a really nice hint of spiciness and tanginess to it. Seared tuna and mandarin oranges may sound weird together, but surprisingly, the flavor of the two stood out, mixed well and made Tuna San a delight to devour.

SaladStop! aims to bring a new dimension to salads and approach to fast food, and for the most part they have succeeded wildly.

Would I be craving for a salad like how I would crave for a McSpicy? Probably not (yet)… but would I come back again when I’m considering having a healthy meal? Absolutely!

What Makes SaladStop! Healthy?

As we go on about how good their salads taste, let’s not forget that the main reason why we’re featuring SaladStop! is because they’re a healthy option. So what exactly makes SaladStop! a healthy alternative to other food joints?

Fresh, Natural & Quality Ingredients

SaladStop! pride themselves on serving the freshest ingredients. As they put it – “Every ingredient takes less than 72 hours from earth to bowl”. For example, their rocket leaves and spinach are airflown to Singapore within 48 hours of being harvested.

Not adding any artificial flavoring/coloring and preservatives is another welcomed bonus.

They even gave their dressings some thought. Dressings are typically the biggest offenders in a bowl of otherwise healthy salad, as they tend to be high in sugar and fat. However, SaladStop! took measures to rectify that. Ms Desbaillets told us that they keep the amount of sugar in the dressings to less than 14g/serving, which is pretty reasonable.

Eat Wide Awake

Perhaps most interesting of all is their slogan/mission/philosophy: Eat wide awake.

Eating wide awake is their commitment to finding the best possible ingredients to feed our mind, body and spirit. This means asking more questions and seeking answers. How has the food we’re eating impacted our environment? How is it going to affect our health?

We love the idea and there’s no way we can do a good enough job of explaining their ethos, so make sure to visit their website to learn more.